Professor Mark Moogalian received the Legion of Honour, the highest French order for military and civil merits, for helping to prevent a terrorist attack in an Amsterdam-Paris high-speed train, in August 2015.

He and a Frenchman as well as two US military servicemen on leave plus a Brit were able to neutralize a Moroccan, who was armed with a knife and a gun, reported L’Express newspaper of France.

French President François Hollande handed the Legion of Honour at the Élysée Palace, the official residence of the President. 

Moogalian, who is of Armenian descent, is both French and American citizen.

Mark Moogalian was shot in the back after trying to apprehend the attacker who had just emerged armed from the toilet of the aforesaid train.